For Holly....

Sweet sister! I'm so sorry to hear about the difficulties you're facing. Know that before the foundations of this world were made the Creator - our Abba Daddy - knew that this season would come in your life! He has a plan for it. The enemy is going to do his best in the coming months to try to distract you and your husband with the worries of this situation, with the strain of it and with anything else he can think of but PLEASE remember WE WIN! HE IS DEFEATED ALREADY!!!

My husband and I have been where you are. In fact, in the last year and a half we visited that place 4 times for a total of 9 months!! The enemy did his best to try and tell me to give up. Give up on staying home with my kids and my man when he needed me the most. Give up on my marriage, there was someone more stable out there for me. Give up on my church, no one there really cared about us. Give up on God, after all HE did this to me. All I can tell you is..GOD IS IN CONTROL! He put people in my path to encourage me, He sent me to retreats (that I CERTAINLY didn't have the money for, but HE provided) to strengthen me, He provided. Girl, He provided in ways that BLEW MY MIND!! I remember once getting a check in the mail from our insurance company because we had OVERPAID our premium! HAVE YOU EVER?! I just fell onto the bed laughing at God!

These are a few passages that I flagged in my Sword during all this time. Some of them are familiar, I'm sure, but they SURE breathed fresh life into me during our battle. James 1:2-4, I Kings 8:56-60 (this is about Israel, but read it and plug your name in), Matthew 6:25-34, Isa 50:7-9 and of course just about all the Psalms. Visit that book often, sweet sister! Send your man to those verses as well!!

I'll leave you with a Psalm that I read almost daily during this time. I love you and I'll be praying for your family! Pick up your Sword, have your man pick up his Sword and prepare for battle sister! It will be won when your souls are quiet enough to keep the enemy from distracting it with the "noise" of your situation.

"My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me (like worrying over this situation). But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Holly, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore." Ps 131 (with my inserts)